Acetylene-gas-generating apparatus



No. 608 643. Patented Au 9 I898 .1. BOLAND. g

AGETYLENE GAS'GENESATING APPARATUS.

(Application filed .m a, 1897.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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1 .LUPQJWIMVWM his airflow No. 608,643. Patented Aug. 9, I898. .1. BOLAND.

ACETYLENE GAS GENERATING APPARATUS.

(Application filed July 3, 1897.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet :2.

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JoIIN BOLAND, or DECATUR, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALFTO CHARLES E. PEEBLES, or RAYMOND, ILLINOIS.

ACETYLENE GAS -GENERATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 608,643, dated August 9, 1898.

' Application filed .Tuly 3, 1897. Serial No. 6%,358. (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN BOLAND, of Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Generating Acetylene Gas, of which the following is'a specification.

This invention is, designed to provide a cheap, simple, and effective generator for acetylene gas which may be built by sheetmetal workers without special provision of any consequence. It is exemplified in the structure hereinafter described and it is de-' fined in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming part of thisspeci fication, Figure 1 is a central vertical section through a generator embodying my improve ments,showing the parts adjusted to generate gas. Fig. 2 is a plan of the generator shown in Fig. 1. Flg. 3 is a central vertical section through the generator, showing the carbid raised from contact with the water by action of the gasometer. 'Fig. 4 is a detail in central vertical section, showing the transmissionpipe leading from the generating-chamber closed by a water seal. Fig. 5 is a detail in plan of mechanism used. to control the water seal and hold the generator-cover in place. 1

In constructing a generator in accordance with my invention a gasometer-tank 1 is made of any desirable size and proportion and is supplied with a cover, as 2. At some point in the gasometer-tank an air-chamber 3 is built from the bottom upward to above the water-line of the gasometer, and it is open at the bottom and closed at the top. Through the air-chamber are extended pipes, as 13 and 22, one of which leads to the generating-cham-j her and the other to a storage-tank or to the service-pipes direct. The pipe 22 extends upward alongside the gasometer-tank, and it forms a guide for the. gasometer-cover. .A bracket 23 is fastened to the top of the cover. It is bored to receive pipe 22, and as the cover rises and falls the bracket slides along the pipe.

A generator-tank 4 is made, preferably, of a circular outline in plan, and it has on op posite sides narrow vertical recesses Maud 4 ,,co1nmunicating with or forming part of its interior. One of the vertical recesses 4 of tanceand passes through an aperture in a bracket 24,which is fastened on the top of the cover of the gasometer.

Above the bracket 2st a collar 25 is fastened onto the rod 18 by means of a set-screw or other suitable means permitting adjustment of the collar. The rod acts with pipe 22 to guide the gasometer-cover in its rise and fall,

.and it isor may be acted on by the gasometercover in a manner to automatically raise and lower the carbid-basket. This is exemplified in Fig. 3,where the gasometercover has acted on the rod through the'bracket 24 and the collar 25 and has raised the carbid from contact with the water and suspended the forma' tionof gas. As the gasometer-cover descends from the position shown in Fig. 3 the carbidbasket will descend through force of gravity until the carbid is again immersed, when gas developed and accumulated in the gasometer may again raise the basket, and so on indefinitely. The location of the collar 25 011 the rod determinesthe amount of gas that may accumulate in the gasometer before the carbid will be raised out of .contact with the water, and the location of the collar may be varied in an obvious manner to suit different circumstances ordifferentrequirements. The pipe 18, which leads from the generator-tank to the gasometer-tank, rises quite a distance above the water in the generator-tank, and it has'an. inverted cup 14 set over such end and out of contact therewith. The means preferably employed to sustain the cup on the pipe consist of a collar 16, fixed on the pipe, and a spider 15, inside the cup,-which'is bored to receive the pipe and adapted to rest on the collar; I i

In the vertical recess 4: of the generatortank is a rod 10, which extends downward toward the bottom of the tank, then bends inward and upward, and connects at its upturned end with a float 11. The float is of annular construction, and it encircles the pipe 13. On the upper end of the float is an annular can 12, the upper end of which is open below cup 14 and adapted to receive the cup. hen the generator is in operative condition, the upper end of the can is submerged, as shown in Fig. 1, while the lower end of cup 1% is some distance above the water, and preliminary to removing the cover of the generator-tank for the purpose of supplying carbid or for anyother purpose the can is raised un: til the lower end of the cup is submerged in its contents and a water seal, which effectively prevents passage of gas from the gasometer, is formed. The upper end of rod 10 is supplied with a rotatable button or crossbar, as 9, and a hooked or undercut catch 8 is fastened onto the wall of recess a in position to engage the button.

The cover for the generator-tank is shown at 5. Its side wall 5 extends between the members of rod 18 and between rod 10 and the float. It has a dome 6, into which the upper end of pipe 13 extends. It is supplied with a valve 17, and it has a lip 7, which is adjacent to catch 8 when the cover is in position. The lip provides a point of engagement for an end of button 9, and when the cover and the float are properly lowered the button 9 may be turned with one end under the catch and the other end above the lip, as shown in Fig. 5, and both the can and the cover will be held in position by the button.

The carbid-bucket 19 is fastened to an upturned end of rod 18. It contains a reticulate basket 20 for the carbid, and it has a set of perforations 21 in its side wall some distance above its bottom and below the carbid. The bottom of the bucket is imperforate to retain sediment, and the perforations 21 permit the water to contact with the carbid from below when the bucket is lowered, and thereby begin the generation of gas in a preferred manner.

When it is desired to open the generatingtank to supply carbid to the basket, for instance, the rod 18 is raised until the carbid is out of the water, and fastened in that position by means of the collar 25. The button 9 is then turned free of catch 8 and the float is permitted to raise the can into sealing connection with the cup, after which the valve 17 is opened and the cover 5 is lifted from the tank. When the basket is supplied with carbid, the above-enumerated steps are performed in reverse order and the apparatus is ready for operation. The float is a convenience rather than a necessity, as the rod 10 and the can thereon may be raised by hand and secured by some well-known form of catch. The float is preferred, however, on account of its automatic action.

' The air-chamber in the gasometer, through which pipes 13 and 22 extend, is of utility in obviating the condensation of vapor in pipe 13. In generating gas some little vapor is formed, and if this were passed through a pipe directly surrounded by water there would be a tendency to condensation, which might in time fill the lower run of pipe 13 and prevent flow of gas.

The water seal is not likely to become inoperative by accumulation of impurities or corrosion. It may be easily cleaned if it should become obstructed or corroded, and it takes the place of a more expensive valve, which would be subject to the disadvantages mentioned. The rod of the can of the water seal has such motion with relation to the water in the generator-tank that when the rod is lowered the can is entirely submerged. This makes it certain that the can will always be filled and assures proper action of the water seal whenever the rod is raised.

The dome 6 rises above the cover 5 in or der that the cup 14 may be raised well above the carbid, so that the fumes from the carbid may settle before they reach the outlet-pipe and the gas be discharged in as dry condition as possible.

The generator-tank is entirely separated from the gasometer-tank except for passage of gas. This confines the impurities developed by gas generation to the generator-tank and leaves the water in the gasometer-tank uncontaminated. The comparatively small amount of water in the generator-tank may be easily renewed whenever it becomes too impure.

By utilizing the pipe 22 and the rod 18 as guides for the gasometer-cover other guides are dispensed with and the device is correspondingly simplified.

The device may be made by sheet-metal workers anywhere, and this, together with its simplicity and permanence, tends to put it readily within reach of users.

VVhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a generator for acetylene gas, the combination of a generator-tank, a dischargepipe in the tank terminating downward, an automaticallyrising water-can adapted to seal the discharge-pipe, a rod connected with the water-can and extended outside the tank, and a catch on the tank to hold the rod and the can in a lowered position, substantially as set forth.

2. In a generator for acetylene gas, the combination of a generator-tank, a dischargepipe in the tank terminating downward, a water-can adapted to seal the discharge-pipe, a float to raise the water-can, a rod connected with the water-can and extended outside the tank, and a catch on the tank to hold the rod and the can in a lowered position, substantially as set forth.

3. In a generator for acetylene gas, the combination of a generator-tank having a dome raised above the general level of its cover, a discharge-pipe terminating downward in the dome, a water-can adapted to seal the discharge-pipe, a float to raise the Waterean, a rod connected with the water-can and extended outside the tank, and a catch 011 the tank to hold the rod and the can in a lowered position, substantially as set forth.

4. In a generator for acetylene gas, the combination of a generator-tank, a downward- (lischarging outlet-pipe having a downwardextended receiving end,a Water-can under the receiving end of the discharge-pipe, a rod connecting with the Water-can and extending outward and upward to one side of the cover of the generator-tank, a catch on the tank and a button on the rod adapted to engage the catch on the tank, substantially as set forth.

5. In a generator for acetylene gas, the

combination of a tank, a Water-sea1 cover for the tank having an upward-projecting dome, an outlet-pipe extended upward into the dome of the cover, and having a downward-extended receiving end, a Water-can below the receiving end of the outlet-pipe, a rod connected with the Water-can and extended outside the tank to one side of the cover, a lip on the cover, a catch on the tank and a button on the rod adapted to engage the lip and the catch, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign my name in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN BOLAND. Attest:

ALEXANDER MoINTosH, L. P. GRAHAM. 

